Machine for manufacturing railway track structures



(No Model.) 3 sheets-sheet 1.

T. o. DU PONT. MAGHINE FOR MANUFACTURING RAILWAY TRACK STRUCTURE. No. 601,527. Patented Mar. 29,1898;

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(No Model.)

' WITNESSES (No Mqdel.) 3 Sheets-8het 3.

' 'T. 0. DU PONT.

MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING RAILWAY TRACK STRUCTURES. No. 601,527. Patented Mar. 29,1898;

WITNESSES INVENTOH "r Norms warns on. PHQYQ'UTNOU wmmmm. o. c.

plan view of the machine in operation.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS COLEMAN DU PONT, OF JOHNSTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE JOHNSON COMPANY, OF LORAIN, OHIO.

MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING RAILWAY TRACK STRUCTURES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 601,527, dated March 29, 1898.

Application filed March 2, 1897. Serial No. 625,784. (No model.)

To all whom; it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS COLEMAN DU PONT, of J ohnstown, Oambria county, Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Machine for Manufacturing Railway Track Structures, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of track structures made by forming interstices in a billet, spreading the portions bordering on said interstices to form the wings of the structure, and milling the top of the billet to form the requisite head, groove, and guard portions thereof. Such a method of manufacturing track structures is set forth in a pending application of Solomon Anthony.

The object of my invention is to provide apparatus for the cheap and effective production of track structuresof this character and to so construct this apparatus that its product may be free from defects, such as cracks, irregular angularity, &c.

To these ends my invention consists in the provision of a machine having plungers adapted to force wedges of varying size into interstices in the-billet, so as to separate the wings of the blank, having means for carryingwedges by. which to limit said separation, having means for preventing buckling of the blank, attenuation, or irregularity at the corners, and having other detailed features to be described and claimed.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a Fig. 2 is an end elevation thereof, and Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section through the center of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 represents the blank 0 before being put into the machine.

The bed-plate A is secured upona suitable foundation. Upon this bedplate rest the cylinder-castings B and B, secured together by the side rods G G.

O and C are plungers movable by hydraulic pressure in B and B, respectively, 1 and c" being the Water-inlets for their respective cylinders.

E and E are wedges which rest upon the bed-plates, so as to be engaged by O and G and be moved toward each other.

F and F are dies, the position ofwhich is adjusted by the set-screws s 5. These dies are secured to the bed-plate by the bolts bb.

D D are portions of the bed-plate adapted to act as guides for the plunger 0 and O.

H and H are vertical posts secured to the bed-plates, and J is a frame carrying a cylinder B in which is the hydraulically-actuated plunger 0 adapted to move vertically. i is the inlet for C The frame J is pivoted upon the post H, and one end of the frame is adapted to hook about the post H.

K is a counterweight.

The movement of the plunger 0 is reversed by shutting the valve leading to the inlet 2', for the plunger is also a cylinder having inlets 2' from a tubular piston P, which is connected rigidly at one end to B and carries at the other end a piston-head, packing, and v follower fitting the bore of O. has similar parts. I

The plunger 0 is raised by the auxiliary C, as shown,

plunger 0 movable in the cylinder B which receives water through the inlet 2' The operation of my invention may now be clearly illustrated by describing the manufacture of a right-angle crossing-piece. A billet having the longitudinal interstices shown in Fig. 4 is placed while hot upon the bed-plate of the machine. The frame J is thrown from the position shown in Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig. 3, and the plunger 0 is pressed against the top of the billet. A sharp wedge, as E, is driven into the interstice at one end-of the billet, the plunger at the other end pressing directly against the end of the billet. 'WVedge E is removed and E takes its place and is driven home. Wedge E is then forced into the interstice at the other end, and this is the stage of manufacture represented in Fig. 1. After this both plungers push up wedges similar to E. Plungers C, O, and O are now moved away from the blank, which may be taken out of the machine and another inserted in its place.

The method as outlined above merely illustrates the possibility of my improved machine, and is not intended to limit the use of the machine. In actual practice there are many details of manipulation which I have omitted as being unessential to this specifithe machine, and it is evident that other means besides hydraulic pressure may supply i each other, a-pair of adjustably-fixed dies in alinement with each other, in the'same horithe necessary force.

This machine is not limited to the manufacture of any particular form of track structure. I have described the manufacture of a right-angle crossing-piece, but it is evident that a mere change of wedges would be required to make an acute-angle crossing or curve crossing, and that only modifications in minor details would be required to manufacture frogs in the same manner.

What I claim, and desire to protect by Let ters Patent, is-

1. The combination of a pair of horizon tallymovable plungers in alinement with each other, a pair of fixed dies in the same horizontal plane, and a table for supporting the blank with its ends contiguous to the plungers and its center between the dies.

2. The combination with a table for supporting the blank and means for spreading the ends of the blank, of adjustably-fixed side dies adapted to bear against opposite sides of the central portion of said blank.

3. The combination with a table adapted to support the blank, of a pair of horizontally- .movableplungers in alinement with each other and dies adapted to be moved thereby, and a pair of fixed dies in alinement with each other in the same horizontal plane as the plungers, but in a vertical plane at right angles to that of the plungers.

4. The combination of horizontally-movable plungers, fixed dies, a table for supporting the blank between the plungers and dies, and a vertically-movable plunger for bearing upon the upper side of the blank.

5. In combination With a table for supportin g-a blank and means for spreading the ends thereof, a pair of side dies resting upon said table, and set-screws engaging the back of the side dies for adjusting the position thereof.

6. The combination with a table, the cylinders at each end thereof, the connecting-rods between said cylinders, and the horizontallymovable plungers extending from within said cylinders, of the fixed dies and the verticallymovable plunger, all substantially as described.

7. The combination, in a machine for man ufacturing track structures, of a pair of horizontally-movable plungers in alinement with zont-al plane as the plungers, but in a vertical plane at right angles thereto, and a verticallymovable plunger adapted to bear upon the blank at substantially the common center between the plungers and dies.

8. The combination with a table, a horizontally-movable plunger at each end thereof, detached wedges in the line of movement of said plunger, an adjustably-fixed die at each side of the table, and a plunger which is vertically movable over the central portion of the table.

9. The combination with a table adapted to support the blank, four angular dies resting 'upon said table and grouped about a common center, and horizontally movable plungers which in their movement are adapted to force two of said dies into interstices in said blank,

and means for rigidly securing the other pair of dies in position.

of said dies into interstices in the blank, means for rigidly securing the other pair of dies in position, and a Vertically-movable plunger carried over the said common center by a vertically-swiveled frame.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS COLEMAN .DU PONT. Witnesses:

W. S. SHERIDAN, H. W. SMITH. 

